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An American Tail: Fievel Goes West
An American Tail: Fievel Goes West (also known as An American Tail II: Fievel Goes West or An American Tail II) is a 1991 British-American animated comedy western film produced by Steven Spielberg's Amblimation animation studio and released by Universal Pictures. A sequel to An American Tail (1986), the film follows the story of the Mousekewitzes, a family of Jewish-Ukrainian mice who emigrate to the Wild West. In it, Fievel is separated from his family as the train approaches the American Old West; the film chronicles him and Sheriff Wylie Burp teaching Tiger how to act like a dog. Fievel Goes West was the first production for the short-lived Amblimation, a studio Spielberg set up to keep the animators of Who Framed Roger Rabbit (1988) working. While the animation medium was transitioning in computers in the late 1980s and early 1990s, Spielberg wanted almost all of the animation of Fievel Goes West to be hand-drawn, describing animation as "an arts-and-crafts business." He also want the animation to have a "live-action" feel. While the first film was directed by Don Bluth, direction was handled by Phil Nibbelink and Simon Wells for the sequel. Phillip Glasser, Dom DeLuise, Nehemiah Persoff, and Erica Yohn reprise their roles from the first film for Fievel Goes West. Tanya's original voice actor, Amy Green, was replaced by Cathy Cavadini, and new characters were voiced by John Cleese, Amy Irving, Jon Lovitz, and James Stewart in his final film role. James Horner returned as a composer and wrote the film's song "Dreams to Dream" which garnered a Golden Globe nomination. Premiering at the Kennedy Center on November 17, 1991, An American Tail: Fievel Goes West began its American theatrical run on November 22. This was the same day Walt Disney Pictures' Beauty and the Beast (1991) was distributed, making it the first time in history two animated films were released on one date instead of two separate ones. Fievel Goes West was promoted with an incredibly expensive amount of tie-ins and started in the top ten at the box office. Ultimately, however, the film became a box office disappointment, only grossing $22 million domestically. Some film journalists and executives attributed its failure to having to compete with the Disney film. Despite mixed critical reviews upon its release, but it has since gained a large cult following, with criticisms pointed towards the story and extremely-fast pace and praises directed at the high-quality animation and voice acting. However, Fievel Goes West fared better when it came to home video sales, blasting to the top of the video charts when released on tape in March 1992; at the time, the film held the record for shortest theater-to-home-video transfer. In addition to garnering more home media releases, TV airings, and video game adaptations later on; the film has made numerous 2010s retrospective best-of lists from online publications, especially best Netflix-available Western films. Fievel Goes West was followed by a short-lived CBS series named Fievel's American Tails and two direct-to-video sequels: An American Tail: The Treasure of Manhattan Island (1998) and An American Tail: The Mystery of the Night Monster (1999). An American Tail: Fievel Goes West was released on VHS and Laserdisc in the United States on March 19, 1992. An American Tail: Fievel Goes West was also released on VHS and Laserdisc in the United Kingdom on June 29, 1992. Category:Films Category:VHS Tapes Category:Laserdiscs Category:1991